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Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von zäˈmo͞oĕl bärônˈ fən po͞oˈfəndôrf [key], 1632–94, German jurist and historian. He is especially noted as an early theorist of international law. Educated in ...

Fructidor

(Encyclopedia)Fructidor frŭkˈtĭdôr, Fr. früktēdôrˈ [key], 12th month of the French Revolutionary calendar. The coup of 18 Fructidor (Sept. 4, 1797), in which General Augereau was a key figure, annulled the ...

Catherine, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Catherine, Saint kăthˈrən, kăthˈərĭn [key], 4th cent.?, Alexandrian virgin martyr. Nothing certain is known of her life, and in 1969 her name was dropped from the liturgical calendar. According...

Fabian, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Fabian, Saint fāˈbēən [key], pope (236–50), a Roman; successor of St. Anterus and predecessor of St. Cornelius. He recast the ecclesiastical organization in Rome. Fabian was martyred under Deciu...

Wodrow, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Wodrow, Robert wo͝odˈrō [key], 1679–1734, Scottish ecclesiastical historian. His principal work is The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution (...

Christopher, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Christopher, Saint krĭsˈtəfər [key] [Gr.,=Christ bearer], 3d cent.?, martyr of Asia Minor. His characteristic legend is that one day when he was carrying a little child over a river, he felt the c...

Philomena of Dacia, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Philomena of Dacia, Peter, or Peter Nightingale, fl. 1291–1303, Danish astronomer and mathematician. He taught at the Univ. of Bologna (1291–92) and in Paris, and was a canon of Roskilde Cathedral...

Socrates Scholasticus

(Encyclopedia)Socrates Scholasticus, fl. 5th cent., Byzantine historian. His Ecclesiastical History (in Greek, 7 vol.) continues the work of Eusebius for the period from 305 to 439. The work is unusual for its obje...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Cyril and Methodius, Saints

(Encyclopedia)Cyril and Methodius, Saints məthōˈdēəs [key], d. 869 and 884, respectively, Greek missionaries, brothers, called Apostles to the Slavs and fathers of Slavonic literature. Their history and influe...